Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
My name is James Koester. I’m a sculptor. My primary material is metal, mostly steel. Today I’m going to meet Maryann.
I’m going to meet James.
She has a few questions for you.
Oh, well, that’ll be interesting.
An artist who is quite a few steps ahead in being focused on what he’s doing. I’m a painter, so my priorities would be paint and paintbrushes.
I need tools to work with steel, and weld steel. I have a diploma from Emily Carr College of Art and Design here in Vancouver.
Lately there seems to be an “average day.�€?
There’s certainly not an average day. Sometimes it’s working towards an exhibition,
sometimes it’s working on a commission, sometimes it’s just doing the administrative stuff that you need to do to run the whole mechanism.
My studio is in the back of my house. It’s got a lot of pros.
If you have that situation because you’re actually walking out of your living environment into a working environment.
Well, the upside is the commute is pretty easy.
The downside is I miss that separation between work and home… Going to school is important.
I don’t think I’d be ready to work by myself if I hadn’t gone to school.
You need other artists to situate yourself in a community. You also become aware of what other people are doing.
I’ve been able to work at school, so closely with other students for about four and a half, four years.
It was one of the main reasons why I went.
I wanted to explore more, and I thought that art school would give me latitude to explore.
Hi, James its Maryann.
Oh hi, Maryann. Come on in.
It’s a real kick to actually sell something, and other times the kick is that you made what you wanted to make, and it works for you.
I think one of the biggest challenges has not been reverting to a normal job with a steady income.
I’m an artist so, that makes me have to figure out how to balance either, or both, paying my bills and functioning in today’s world,
as well as being able to put full time amount of work or hours into my art.
The biggest reward’s when you do finish a project that you started and, you know, feel that you did what you intended to do.
I think you have to be pretty stubborn, because it’s not always easy.
I don’t know how many people really… know exactly what they’re doing.
You have to believe in what you’re doing. You don’t have to be extroverted, but you can’t act introverted.
Whether they’re delivering mail in the morning or, see I don’t know if anybody really wakes up one day and says, I know how it’s going to work.
I mean, you can’t work in a void. You have to interact with other people.
The last couple years in art school, I was quite afraid of what’s going to happen when I graduate.
You have to show. The more of a buzz you can create, the better. The more people that see your work, the more chance for other opportunities.
If I feel that someone’s going to buy a piece, then they do appreciate it. So if it’s going to a place where it’s going to be appreciated, that’s a good thing.
I think a really popular misconception is that it’s not really work, and that it’s fun all the time. …
We’re small businesses, I mean, whether we’re incredibly successful or just scraping by.
When you do get it, I look at it almost as extra cash at this point.
I mean in any kind of work that I do, I always think that I’m either doing it for love or I’m doing it for money.
Thanks for letting me come by.
Oh, it was really great to meet you, Maryann.
I guess it’s just… know what you want to do so you end up figuring out a way of being able to do what you’ve dreamt of doing.
I think the very best part about what I do is having control of my situation, and on a day-to-day basis I make choices for how I’m going to live.